Volunteers are Special People

Volunteers make all the difference in a program like Community Ministries.  If they are kind, caring, and interested in the kids, the kids know it and keep coming back.

 Many times we think that volunteers, especially those who work with at risk youth, as special people, different from the rest of us, more knowledgeable and bearing special gifts or experience.  But so often, special volunteers are people who are just like us. 

 So what makes a special volunteer?  It’s not knowledge (although that always helps) or experience (although that also helps).  It’s attitude.  An attitude of openness and care, an attitude that is open to the lessons that God gives us, an attitude that puts the kids first. 

Maybe it was put best by one of our volunteers a few months ago as she talked about her experiences. 

“I often leave Tuesday nights feeling like I really didn’t make a difference, or I didn’t handle something the best that I could have.  I’ve never done anything like teen club before, so I’m really trying to learn as I go.  I feel like I’m getting more out of the experience than I’m contributing.  I’ve gone home in tears a few times, just thinking about the kids and what I’d learned that night.  The night I brought JT home, he put his headphones on when he got in the car but when he saw me turn the radio on to 104.5 he took them out.    So I started talking to him, just about random stuff.  He said how he’s trying to make better decisions this year, and he wishes Trinity met every night so he’d have something positive to do.  He said something about how his mom was really struggling because she wasn’t working, and he didn’t have a bus pass, so it’s hard to get to Trinity sometimes.  I was surprised how he just opened up to me.  I realized that night how incredibly fortunate I am to have the car that I have.  Yes, it’s old and sort of falling apart, but it runs well and it’s mine.  I have so much more than so many people, and for that I AM thankful.  I can certainly tell you, I take a LOT less for granted these days.   I’m in this for the long haul, Donna.  And I’m glad you’re patient with the newbies like me.”

‘I get more out of this than I put into it.’  Isn’t that what were all looking for, deep down inside, something that gives real meaning to our time, something that not only allows us to ‘do good’ but nurtures us as well? 

The Community Ministries volunteers are a special group.  And it’s their attitude that makes them special.

Up and Running

The first week of October is the start of a new program year for Community Ministries and this year was no exception. Starting with teen basketball on Monday, volunteers and kids got back together for another year of fun and learning at Trinity United Methodist Church.

Dodgeball Survivors

The schedule of programming this year is basically the same as last year. The week starts with basketball on Monday, then Teen Club on Tuesday, Kids Club on Wednesday, and TMO (Teen Bible Study) on Thursday.

TMO Group

“We’re seeing a lot of the kids we had last year,” commented Program Director Donna Shirey, “and as usual we have picked up some new ones along the way.” Still waiting to start is the YET literacy program for children in grades 1 to 3 which will begin the week of October 12.

But it’s a good start and the perfect beginning for the 2009-10 program year.

Kick Off Sunday for Community Ministries

Every year, just before the start of the new Community Ministries program year (first full week of October), we celebrate the program at our home church. Although we have volunteers from many different churches and secular organizations, Trinity United Methodist is not only the physical home for our program but our spiritual home as well.

Sixteen years ago, when the Trinity congregation made the decision to stay in the inner city, Community Ministries was born out of a desire to minister to the people in our neighborhood, particularly the children. Since that time Trinity has provided significant financial support and also been the source for many of our leaders and volunteers. Kickoff Sunday has become a fixture in the church year for Trinity and this year was no exception.

At both the early (8:30 AM) and late service (11:00 AM), Community Ministries Coordinator, Donna Shirey introduced the current team, told a number of stories about what has happened to our kids over the past year, and thanked Trinity for their continued support. The scriptures for the worship were both selected with the program in mind. The Old Testament scripture was taken from Micah 6:8 which deals with what the Lord requires of us (to love justice) while the Gospel lesson was Mathew 5:13 (the parable of the Salt – For you are the Salt of the Earth). The morning message ‘For You Are the Salt of the Earth’ was delivered by David Shirey who has been involved with the program for many years and currently works with the Teens on Thursday night.

Following the late service, friends of Community Ministries gathered in the church parlor and forming a circle holding hands heard from Dave Kampfschulte, the Community Ministries Council chair, as well as Joann Riemersma, principal of Congress School which is right down the street and who we have a long running partnership with. The group was dismissed with a prayer by former CM director, Cheryl Bistayi.

It was a fitting beginning to another year for Community Ministries; inspiring, honest, and looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead of us. This week the last round of volunteer training will take place and we will start signing up the kids. And then the week of October 5 – it all begins again.

MISRI at Community Ministries

People generally don’t put the words ‘summer vacation’ and ‘math’ together in a sentence very often, but that is exactly what we have been doing this summer at Community Ministries.

Our teen program runs Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from about noon until sometime in the evening. During that time we like to give the kids a combination of fun and learning, and this year we have made math an important part of the learning component.
You hear a lot today about literacy, about reading. And well you should. It’s a fact that you can’t function successfully in today’s world without being able to read, and reading ‘well’ really improves your chances of succeeding ‘well’. But there is another skill that needs attention for most kids. Math.

Who Says Math isn't Fun?!

The problem is, most adults can’t deal with math either and so not only do students have a hard time with it, but not most adults can’t help them. And we’re not talking advanced algebra here, but basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

So this summer, Community Ministries launched their own math tutoring program, christened Math IS Really Important. You work out the acronym. Using worksheets built around a single math concept, kids spent the first half hour of their day at CM practicing the math skills they are going to need in the fall. Calculators were prohibited, and the use of fingers was discouraged. Students were tracked and rewards given out. Plus, we threw in some math oriented card games when people started to get bored.

What happened? Well, we weren’t sure what to expect, but after some initial surprise and complaining, the half hour gradually grew to a little less than an hour as everyone pushed to either finish the day’s sheet or else get ahead by working on the next one. There were even days when the tutors called a halt to thing so we could go on to the important business of cycling and playing football.

We will face a different challenge in the fall. We will continue pushing basic math skills but we will also have to provide help for the high school and middle school students we have who are taking a variety of algebra classes. Reading is critically important, but math is always the biggest hurdle our kids face in getting that diploma.

Are you a ‘math’ person? Are you interested in becoming one? Math is always the hardest subject to find a tutor for. If you would like to help us with this work, let us hear from you. Whether your math skill level is high or low, we have a spot ready and waiting for you.

A Day at the Beach

West Michigan is very fortunate in that it has some of the finest beaches in the United States; broad and sandy with large, shallow walk out areas for swimming.   True, sometimes the water temperature is a bit below what we might normally consider ‘comfortable’, but you get used to it pretty quickly.  And with Grand Rapids only 35 miles away it is easy and convenient to get away to one of them for an afternoon or evening. 

But surprisingly many of the children in our program have never been to Lake Michigan.   They have not taken the drive through rich farmlands, past corn or wheat fields, seeing cows or horses in pastures, and through the small towns that stand between GR and the shore.  In short, they have no idea what lies beyond the narrow confines of their neighborhood. 

A Day at the Beach

And so, every summer, both the teens and the kids club children look forward to a trek to the beach. 

And once there, no matter what the water temperature or how much they claimed there was no way they were going to get in the water, they all seem to end up there; splashing around, playing football, and (a few) watching for sharks.  

It’s such a simple thing, going to the beach, and yet it means so much to so many of the kids in our program.  It’s more than just a day at the beach.   It’s a chance to see things they have never seen before or at least see them from a different perspective, a perspective where they are part of the picture, not passive spectators. 

But isn’t that the way it often is in life; it’s the simple things, the small things that really make a difference in our lives, and in the lives of others.   But so often these are the very things that get forgotten or which people don’t have time to do.   But at Community Ministries we never forget the importance of small things on person’s life.   Because it’s the small things that add up to a big life. 

 

Thought for the Week  -  What are you doing today, what small thing are you doing today, for someone else?  Some small thing that will make a difference in their life – and maybe in yours as well.

Running, Jumping, Growing

With one of the main themes of our summer program being Health and Fitness we knew we had to do something special with our Kids Club members.  In case you’ve forgotten (or never knew), Kids Club is for children in grades 3 – 6.  These are important years physically, the years in which children and growing and developing, and also in which habits are being set that will determine much of the child’s future health. 

Fortunately, children at that age are naturally, well, shall we just say ‘active’?   Running, jumping, leaping, and sometimes turning sumersaults is normal for kids in that group and stands in stark contrast to the more sophisticated and sullen teen years when lieing down can be an art form.   But even though physical activity is second nature to the Kids Club members, sometimes it’s a good idea to channel that energy a bit and gymnastics is a perfect way to do that.

Like many other activities, the kids in our program often do not have access to either the facilities or the instructors required to do gymnastics and so they fail to get introduced to a sport that not only burns off calories but builds strength and enhances flexibility as well.   Fortunately for us Gymco Sports is only a short drive away.  

To say that the kids had a great time is an understatement but what was really wonderful was seeing them listening intently to the instructors and then doing things they had never done before.   I’d like to say they were tired out by the end of the evening but it wouldn’t exactly be true.  But there were smiles everywhere.

Sometimes success is a matter of opportunities and unfortunately, our kids have fewer than most and we consider increasing their opportunities as a primary goal of the Community Ministries Program.

Cycling for Health and Fitness

One of the main goals of this year’s summer session is health and fitness, and one of the activities we are using to achieve this with the teens is cycling.

Biking on the 'Long' Route

 

Bicycle riding is something that just about everyone can do, regardless of your fitness level, and it is a great way to get around in the city during the summer.   But surprisingly, many of our teens do not bike on a regular basis.  One of the reasons is that many of them do not have a bike of their own and so before we could get a cycling program going we had to get some bicycles they could use.   Over the years, Community Ministries has been collectiong bikes, many of which needed more than a little refurbishing, and we now have built up a group of close to a dozen bikes, many of them older and heavier than is typical, but all of which have two wheels and are better than nothing.   

Riding in the city has it’s own challenges too, traffic being one of them.  All of our cyclists wear a helmet, of course, but before anyone goes out on the street the adult riders are sure to go over hand signals and the importance of staying over the right as much as possible. 

Fortunately, the church is located not too far from a relatively safe set of roads that run around Reeds Lake, providing an 8 – 10 mile loop that is mostly flat but which includes some hills which give the kids a chance to not only cycle, but complain as well.   Going out in four person groups (with a leader), each group gets a time for their ride that they can compare with their friends in other groups as well as looking for a personal best.    

We may not be ready to ride in the next Tour de France, but  one ride at a time the group is getting healthier and fitter than they were before.  

 

Note – if you would like to help the cycling program at Trinity you can do so by donating a good quality bike or by making a contribution to Community Ministries that is to be directed to the Bike Maintenance Program.

A New Beginning

Sometimes, something nice happens.  And when it does, it makes you smile all day. 

This past Saturday, July 4, 2009, was one of those nice things.  Community Ministries has been functioning for over a dozen years now and during that time many of the kids who have come through our doors have grown up and gone out into the world.  We have had high school graduations, college graduations, new jobs, and other landmark events, but this past Saturday was a first for us – a Wedding.  One of the boys from one of the very first groups married the love of his life and some of us from the program were there to see it. 

A wedding is always an exciting moment, a time of commitment – everything is ahead of the happy couple.  And it was especially so since we had known this young man since he was in elementary school.   The couple was all smiles as we passed through the receiving line outside the church.  They will have their problems, of course, their trials, the times they turn to each other for comfort and protection.   And we can only hope that some of the lessons that this young man learned in Community Ministries, lessons about teamwork or forgiveness, for example, will help them both through the difficult times that are bound to come. 

But today, the bride smiles and leans against her new husband.  Can it really be that he is all grown up?  The boy who came in looking for a place to play basketball?  Each day seems to go slowly, but the years – the years just roll past so quickly.

Ready, Set, Go!

It is almost July and for Community Ministries we are just a few days away from the start of our six week summer program. Running Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from July 6 to August 5, it will offer both teens and elementary students an opportunity to have fun, learn a few things, and get away from the same old, same old.

Summer vacation was years ago for me and I spent most of it playing with my friends, listening to my transistor radio, and riding my bike aimlessly around the neighborhood. Can’t ever remember spending any of it at our church (even though we regularly attended on Sunday). And my own children were the same way. There were camps to attend and things to do but almost none of it revolved around church.

Maybe that’s why it really hits me when I walk into church on a week day during the Community Ministry summer program and I see the Community Ministry office and several other classrooms filled with kids. The program starts at noon, but the staff knows they have to be there before that time because our kids will start coming over almost as soon as they get up. They come to play board games. They come to talk to the leaders. They come to just rag on each other and chill. They come because they know Trinity is their safe place, that someone will always be there to welcome them, that they can be themselves and no one will put them down.

Where would they be if we didn’t have a summer program? That’s easy – on the street, walking aimlessly, shooting baskets at the school yard until some of the older kids chased them away, feeling like they had no place to go and no one who cared.

Fortunately, however, in the midst of the summer heat and normal family vacations, there are people who put aside time to be there. So there will be a place to go. There will be a place with people who care. And for many of these kids, that will be the big memory of this summer; the memory of the fun and love they received at Trinity United Methodist Church.

Community Ministries Fund Raiser at BW3, March 15

Ever been to Buffalo Wild Wings, the one at 2035 28th Street SE (between Breton and Kalamazoo in the Grand Central Plaza)?   Well no matter what the answer is to that question we are hoping to see you there Sunday, March 15 for our special Community Ministries Fund Raiser. 

A percentage of all sales is going to be donated to Trinity Community Ministries and we need you to bring yourself, and all your friends, and an appetite and help make this a real success. 

NOW THERE IS ONE CATCH – You have to bring a coupon for your visit to count.  Coupons will be handed out at church on Sunday, March 15, or you can click on the word ‘coupon’ above or you can return to the church home page and click on the coupon link to print out one of your very own.  Just remember to bring that with you or no amount of begging and pleading will result in a donation to Community Ministries.   The coupon states the hours for this are from 6-11 PM, but please note – the Coupon will be honored all day long, so choose the time when you are hungriest! 

So mark the date, and get ready to chow down to help Community Ministries.